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Dustin Marshall had a pretty unique idea when he came to asking his girlfriend Lindsey Norman to marry him.

Instead of the traditional flowers, candles and getting down on one knee, the 32-year-old went for a tattoo on his bum and flashing it at her after a game of pool.

Lindsey, 30, from Hertfordshire, explained: ‘He orchestrated it so he would get “seven-balled”, where the black is sunk when one player still has all seven of their balls on the table.

‘Our rule is you have to pull your pants down if that happens, so he just pulled down his trousers.

‘I looked over and said: “What’s that on your bum?”

‘He walked over to me and I could see that it said: “Will you marry meow?” with a picture of our cat.

‘I was completely shocked.’

Before the proposal on 23 December last year, Lindsey and Dustin had talked about getting engaged but she had no idea he was actually planning something.

The couple,with friends Jakki and Danny, who knew about the plan (Picture: Lindsey Norman)

She says: ‘I’d been dropping subtle hints for a while but I thought he wasn’t really picking up on them.

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‘I thought we’d get married some day but just wasn’t expecting it then – or like that.’

She was suspicious that something was going on as Dustin had insisted on sleeping in the spare room for a few nights before.

The tattoo and Lindsey’s ring (Picture: Lindsey Norman)

He told her his back was sore – but she had no idea he was trying to hide the tattoo until the redness went down.

On the night, Lindsey went for a meal with friends and then they headed to a friend’s house.

The friend had a bar and a pool table in the back garden so Dustin and his friend started playing the game.

When the black ball went in with seven of his balls on the table, as Dustin had set it up, he pulled down his trousers as the loser, but it was really so Lindsey could see the tattoo.

Lindsey and Dustin (Picture: Lindsey Norman)

She laughs: ‘Once I realised what it said, his friend Danny passed the ring but I was crying so much, it was about half an hour before I gave him the answer.

‘I’m a bit of a crazy cat lady so that’s why he chose a picture of our cat Pinkie.’

The pair were with lots of their friends and even Dustin’s mum but other than Jakki and Danny, who also designed the tattoo, everyone else had no idea he was about to ask her to be his wife.

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‘Everyone was so excited and pleased for us when they realised,’ Lindsay said.

Their cat Pinkie, the inspiration for the tattoo (Picture: Lindsey Norman)

The couple are planning to get married in August next year and have already started planning the wedding.

Although she couldn’t wait to marry Dustin, Lindsay was worried about finding a dress, as a size 22.

She said: ‘Jakki phoned up a local bridal shop and asked them if they would have dresses in my size that I could try on in the shop. They said they had loads in stock but when we turned up, they didn’t have anything.

‘They pinned dresses to me but it just wasn’t right and really wasn’t a nice experience.

Lindsey in her dress with Jo and Alison on Curvery Brides Boutique on TLC (Picture: Curvy Brides Boutique/TLC)

‘They were saying “imagine what it will look like” but I couldn’t because it wouldn’t even go over my arms.’

Lindsay was put forward to appear on the TV show Curvy Brides Boutique on TLC, where Jo Cooke and Alison Law, owners of Curves and Couture in Essex, help plus size women find their dream dress.

They offer dresses up to a size 40 and have them in stock for brides-to-be to try on.

‘I had a very clear picture of what exactly I wanted. We went in and both Jakki and I spotted one on a separate rail. I tried on a few and then I knew I wanted to try that one on and it was the one.